Cinema
The American Backyard (L'orto americano)
Pupi Avati (director)
Glasgow FrightFest 2025 (studio)
107 (length)
08 March 2025 (released)
11 March 2025
Can you fall in love at first sight? The romantic will always say yes, the cynical will laugh in your face at your naiveite. For the film’s protagonist Lui (Filippo Scotti) it happens while having his hair cut in a Bolognia barber just after the liberation of Italy in 1945. An American military nurse (Mildred Gustaffson) enters asking for directions, which he can give speaking English. With thanks she is gone.
To Iowa 1946 and Lui has moved there having exchanged his house with an American for 6 months. His hope is to concentrate on a novel. This house overlooks an unkept backyard, which belongs to Flora (Rita Tushingham) who by coincidence happens to be the military nurse’s mother. He now knows her name, Barbara, but has gone missing.
Spurred to investigate he finds her room untouched and going further (urged by voices in his head) digs up the garden, finding a jar containing some grisly materials that could be clues. Flora dies and Lui is left to the mercy of her other daughter Adrianna (Morena Gentile) and the US authorities who annul his visa.
Forced to return to Italy Lui continues the investigation, which leads him to a small town that is engrossed by the trial of Zagotto (Armando De Ceccon), alleged to have killed three women, and once engaged to Barbara. The evidence seems incontestable yet his brother Emilio (Roberto De Francesco), fights his corner.
Directed by Pupi Avati, based on his own novel, and adapted with Tommaso Avati, The American Backyard is a sophisticated mystery thriller that harks back to the classic ‘Noir and mystery era of cinema with its psychological tropes, beautiful use black and white and deliberate manipulation of the viewer.
With classical allusions, some grisly images, and doubts over Lui’s sanity it’s a complex web of characters, images and dialogue. As such it takes a little time to get involved with the film which is down to the very deliberate pacing that Avati chose.
The key figure here is Lui and his total absorption (obsession) with Barbara’s mystery. His character is only developed as far as is necessary to give the viewer a vague idea of what drives him. Though clearly on mission, he's prone to manipulation as Rita does in Idaho, and later by Emilio. There's also his mental health which has to cast doubt on his reliability as a narrator anyway.
The American Backyard had its UK premiere at Glasgow FrightFest 2025.
To Iowa 1946 and Lui has moved there having exchanged his house with an American for 6 months. His hope is to concentrate on a novel. This house overlooks an unkept backyard, which belongs to Flora (Rita Tushingham) who by coincidence happens to be the military nurse’s mother. He now knows her name, Barbara, but has gone missing.
Spurred to investigate he finds her room untouched and going further (urged by voices in his head) digs up the garden, finding a jar containing some grisly materials that could be clues. Flora dies and Lui is left to the mercy of her other daughter Adrianna (Morena Gentile) and the US authorities who annul his visa.
Forced to return to Italy Lui continues the investigation, which leads him to a small town that is engrossed by the trial of Zagotto (Armando De Ceccon), alleged to have killed three women, and once engaged to Barbara. The evidence seems incontestable yet his brother Emilio (Roberto De Francesco), fights his corner.
Directed by Pupi Avati, based on his own novel, and adapted with Tommaso Avati, The American Backyard is a sophisticated mystery thriller that harks back to the classic ‘Noir and mystery era of cinema with its psychological tropes, beautiful use black and white and deliberate manipulation of the viewer.
With classical allusions, some grisly images, and doubts over Lui’s sanity it’s a complex web of characters, images and dialogue. As such it takes a little time to get involved with the film which is down to the very deliberate pacing that Avati chose.
The key figure here is Lui and his total absorption (obsession) with Barbara’s mystery. His character is only developed as far as is necessary to give the viewer a vague idea of what drives him. Though clearly on mission, he's prone to manipulation as Rita does in Idaho, and later by Emilio. There's also his mental health which has to cast doubt on his reliability as a narrator anyway.
The American Backyard had its UK premiere at Glasgow FrightFest 2025.
